NYTimes.com - Game Theory- Making Room for the Women.Unfortunately this rise in so-called casual play has upset some of those who see themselves as guardians of the true flame. There’s been a definite backlash against the idea that women are entering the hallowed citadel, dropping in a few scatter cushions and ending all the fun. Particular ire is reserved for anyone who dares to point out that female characters in games are often unsupported in the bra region for no apparent reason; given boring, bland supporting roles; and totally absent.

Post CommentEnter the details of the comment
you'd like to post in the boxes below and click the button at
the bottom of the form.

Overon wrote on Dec 27, 2012, 02:01:I have a novel idea, rather than speculating on why women don't go to LAN parties, I think it would be better to ask them in an environment where they can say what they really think freely without fear or intimidation or any other social pressure.

Why don't you enlighten me on what you think the reasons are.

Personally I am way less interested in the fact that none of them wanted to participate at a LAN party than I am in the fact that they still don't play those games in the privacy of their own homes. So I'd say it has way less to do with social pressure than a general lack of interest in hardcore gaming.

I don't know. I haven't looked. That's why I said we should ask them what is unappealing about gaming.

Do we really need to? I mean, this is anecdotal evidence of course, but I find most women aren't attracted to the same things in gaming that men are. They don't generally see the value of competing for competing's sake. They won't sit down and play a game like Civ 5 or Sword of the Stars. There is generally not enough emotional investment in it apart from the drive to win(which is enough for most men) but not really a big motivating force for women.

In my LAN party days, there were only about 3 women who would set up and play with the rest of the group. Of those 3, there was one who was really good at FPS games and she repeatedly kicked a lot of our butts in UT and Quake(including mine). At the end of the day though, as good as she was, she really wasn't that into gaming for itself, she just had a boyfriend who was hardcore into gaming and she picked it up from him. It was way more about doing something with her boyfriend than anything else.

Basically, I think that's your answer. While as a male, I'm going to respond to scantily clad women and similar attempts to appeal to my base male urges, in the end I'm going to respond way more to great gameplay and the challenge of pushing myself to overcome both human and AI opponents in a game. In general, women will respond way less to those things.

The reason I question articles like this is because the women in them seem to have such a narrow focus in gaming. Halo and CoD on XBox Live. Never anything else mentioned. What are they expecting to get from a bunch of immature, teenaged brats? Why even put yourself into that environment? I don't even want to go there as a male.